Bryce Harper's history-making homers lead Nats to 9-2 win

During spring training, ESPN released a poll of major leaguers, naming Bryce Harper as the the game's most overrated player. The world-wide leader might want to call a re-vote after Harper followed Wednesday's three-homer assault by smacking two more bombs tonight to lead the Nationals to a 9-2 win over the Braves.

The 22-year-old Harper became the youngest player in Major League Baseball history to hit five home runs in a two-game span and the first ever do it in the 47-year history of the Nationals/Expos franchise, according to Elias.

"Hopefully I can hit two more tomorrow," Harper said when told he re-wrote the record books again tonight.

Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez was rolling through the Braves' lineup, but entering the bottom of the sixth, his team trailed by one until Harper stepped to the plate. With Yunel Escobar on first after a leadoff single, Harper unloaded on a fastball from Braves starter Eric Stults, sending it crashing into diners sitting in the Red Porch beyond the left-center field wall at Nats Park. The two-run shot gave the Nats the lead they wouldn't come close to relinquishing the rest of the evening.

"Don't touch him," Gonzalez said about Harper. "You might get third-degree burns. That guy is on fire. He's just fun to watch. He's unbelievable. A show-stopper. When he goes up to bat, everybody stops what they're doing, whether eating popcorn or hot dogs. He's out there pausing time. It's fun to watch."

Harper's second clout ruined the major league debut for Braves rookie Williams Perez. With the Nats leading by two in the eighth inning, Harper put the Braves to sleep. He crushed Perez's fastball high in the sky and into the seats in right for a three-run homer. For the second straight game, the 31,288 at Nats Park refused to sit as they clapped and screamed until their young star came out of the dugout for a wave. Harper said it was the first time he had ever received curtain calls in back-to-back games.

Just like that, Harper's 10 homers place him in a tie with Cincinnati's Todd Frazier for most in the National League.

"I don't even want to talk about mechanics," Harper said. "I don't want to talk about anything, actually. I just want to go up there, try to have good ABs. Like I said, like I've been saying, that's the way I need to be. If I'm healthy, if I'm going the right way, that's what you're going to get out of me. That's just how I am."

Harper wasn't the only Nats player to throw the lumber around tonight. Second baseman Danny Espinosa hit two opposite-field dingers to take over sole possession of second place in the Nats home run race with four. It was the third time in Espinosa's six-year career that he has hit two homers in a game.

But even Espinosa wanted to talk about Harper's fireworks after the win.

"When he's on time with everything like he is right now, he's hitting off-speed, fastballs, it doesn't matter what's going up there right now," Espinosa said. "When he's on time like the way he is, it's pretty electric. I think everybody knows that. It looks like he's just staying within himself and taking the pitches they're giving him and doing damage."

All nine of the Nats' runs came via the long ball tonight. It started in the fourth when left fielder Jayson Werth finally banged his first of the season.

"I lost the derby," Werth joked when asked how it felt to finally break the ice.

Harper was pumped for his buddy and mentor Werth to hit his first after dealing with recovery from offseason surgery on his right shoulder.

"It's nice to see that J-Dub's getting back into it, his first game back in three or four days," Harper said. "So it was nice to see, definitely, him getting that homer and I'm just excited for him."

And Werth certainly knows how valuable Harper's fiery play is to the Nats' attitude as a team.

"He's a good young player," Werth said. "You gotta remember how young he is. I think he's got a long way to go. He's got big aspirations. I know us guys in here have big aspirations for him. He has a lot of pressure on him. It's good to see him play the way he's been playing lately and just the way he's been going about it too. It's a lot of fun to watch. It's a lot of fun to be around. That type of play can be contagious so we just need him to keep doing what he's doing. It shouldn't be too tough."